"Very good Jack... Again." Jack did as he was told. He waved his hand to the side, causing a shot of nightmare sand to hit the target across the room.

"Well done. You're progressing faster than I thought you would, but I'm no surprised." Pitch laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. Jack silently grimaced, but didn't push the older spirit away. He had to play the part. Make him believe.

Jack smirked, "Hmph, shouldn't underestimate me, King." It had been exactly three weeks since Jack had arrived. Three weeks of having to cope with his tormentor, his unwanted touches and compliments.

Pitch's own smile soon followed, "Yes, I sympathize with anyone who would do so." Despite not wanting to spend a minute more than necessary with the man, Jack had to admit Pitch was a good teacher. Jack could connect with the nightmares, attack with sand,... Jack could see. Metaphorically speaking.

"Darkness is so enthralling, isn't it, Jack?" Pitch placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, startling him.

"It has its advantages." Jack replied. Pitch jumped to face him and smiled.

"Yes, so many, wonderful uses that most don't even realize! Tell me Jack... would you like to see again?"

"What?"

"Darkness is everywhere. There is no way to escape it. Even when there's light, there's always shadows that chase it. And I-we-feel those shadows, we are a part of those shadows. Every nook-every cranny-where they reside, so do we. Do you understand, Jack?"

Jack laid on top of the bed that was in his 'room.' Although the room itself was large, it was sparse and was missing the usual furniture. Jack could tell you what was in it, but he couldn't tell you the color. Jack's 'vision' was only in black and white; darkness and light. Jack could process where shadows were, similar to how eyes normally could process where light was. It was strange, in a way, and it took some getting use to, but it was definitely better than nothing-he would know.

The sound of Pitch's voice filled the catacombs. "Jack? It's time for dinner. Come eat with me." The winter spirit sighed, but got off his bed anyway. He maneuvered through the hallways with ease. Jack pushed the door to the dining room open. Pitch was sitting at the head of a long black table. Jack sat down at Pitch's right, knowing what would happen if he sat anywhere else.

"Ah, Jack. Glad you could join me."

"Anything for you, Pitch." Silence ensued.

"...So, my little nightmare prince," Pitch stroked a piece of Jacks hair, "let's talk about your training."

Jack repressed a shudder. "What about it?"

"Well, you have some sight, can fight a little, and have a connection with the mares... I think that it's time to take it up a notch."

"What do you mean?"

Pitch moved his hands to cover Jacks, "After dinner, I want you to give a child a nightmare."

"What?"

"You heard me. Finish eating and get ready." Pitch stood up and left the room, leaving Jack in silence. It was deafening.

oooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo

"Go ahead, Jack." Pitch nudged said spirit towards the bed of a young boy.

Jack hesitated, "I don't know what to do."

"It's simple. What do we control?"

"Fear."

"Exactly. Imagine it, fear gripping and clawing at your very soul. Grab that feeling, and send it into his dreams." Jack nodded. He stood next to the bed and watched the golden sand swarm above the boy's head.

The scene was of him playing baseball. He was about to make the last shot of the game. Jack thought of all the turmoil he's endured, all of the pain and fear. The image that came to mind was cracked ice. His sister facing death, when it was in fact him who fell through the ice. Jack kept this in mind and touched the dream sand. He watched in fascination as the golden grains slowly began to change to black. The scene continued, but instead of making the shot, the boy missed, causing his team to lose the game. His team members shunned him and left the boy all alone. Jack felt tears well up in his eyes. How could he do that to a child?

"Hush, Love." Pitch placed his hands on his shoulders. "Don't be upset, This is a necessary duty that must fall on our shoulders. It is not all bad. Because of this, the child will push himself to achieve more, and strive for perfection in order to keep this from happening in real life. At least try to look at it positively. Let's go home." Jack followed silently as they traveled back to the catacombs. Pitch went off to his chambers, but not before placing a kiss on Jack's cheek and biding him goodnight. They young spirit glided to his own and sat down on his bed. He numbly stared at the wall, the events from earlier clouding his thoughts.

He was brought out of them by a nudging of his shoulder. He didn't have to 'look' to know that it was his favorite nightmare. Jack took to calling her midnight. As cliche as it sounded, because she was made from nightmares, he only saw a black silhouette when he looked at her.

"Hey girl." She nuzzled his face, trying to cheer up her second master. She was rewarded with a small smile.

"Oh, I just don't know if I'm cut out for this. I miss the days when I could just give children snow days and a white Christmas without having to look over my shoulder. Why does nothing ever going right for me? Oh well, at least I can leave here soon, now that I know know how to create nightmares," Jack grabbed a pen and paper. "I'm going to write to the guardians and tell them just that . Think you could deliver it for me?" The mare nodded, to King the parchment and disappeared into the shadows.

The next few days consisted much of the same thing. He got up, he ate, and then he practiced with targets. Jack would spend time with the nightmares, something that Pitch stressed the importance of. Since Jack would soon be able to command them, they had to have faith in his abilities to lead them. The boogie man would appear in and out every day, making sure to touch him whenever he could. To Jack's surprise and dismay, Pitch was not as bothersome as he thought. Even though he was a big cuddler, he never went any further than that. There were a lot of pet names, but he could deal with that. The looks though, they were what bothered him.

Jack could practically feel the want swirling around in Pitch's eyes. The young spirit was worried that one day Pitch would snap, but in those moments of doubt, he would remember that he was leaving soon. He would also remember who he was going to home to. Jack smiled while eating his lunch. As if on cue to ruin his mood, Pitch walked in the dining room to eat lunch himself.

"Hello, Jack. How was your morning?"

"It was okay. The usual, I suppose."

Pitch paused for a moment in thought before replying, " I see. I'd like to show you something after lunch, then." Jack nodded, as if he had any other choice. Play the part; make him believe. They quickly finished eating and moved to a large room Jack had never been in before. Pitch snapped and the room was enveloped in light. Jack closed his eyes, though it did him no good. Eventually he got used to the white, and looked around. The saw the usual silhouette of Pitch, and two other shadows at opposite ends of the room.

"What's going on?"

Pitch ignored his question. "You only see in black and white, correct?" Jack nodded. "Excellent. Today we're going to talk about Shadow manipulation."

"What do you mean?"

"Jack, I've been teaching you how to use nightmare sand, but, like you control snow, we control shadows. People think that shadows are where the light does not reach, but that is not true. Shadows are where the light would dare not go. Controlling shadows are similar to controlling nightmare sand, but since darkness is not our own creation, you must unite yourself with it. Think of it like this; you are trying to buy it for a service like you would a plumber, and you have to convince it to work for you. You need to show the darkness why it needs to listen to you. Once you have that initial connection, you'll have it as long as you need. Unless, of course, something changes. We'll cross that bridge if we come to it."

"How do I... talk to it?"

"Whenever you are in physical contact with a shadow, which is almost always, you are already linked mentally with it. Some are more in tune with it than others, but there is a connection. You need to step into the shadow and think about what you want. What you need." The young spirit nodded. Slowly, Jack made his way to one of the black masses in his field of vision. He could feel Pitch's eyes on him the entire time. Jack stuck his arm into the shadow. Now that he was paying attention, he noticed a darkening in his mind. Not literally, but his thoughts and memories seemed a little less cheerful.

Unsure of what exactly to do, he tried to focus on the darkness and grab a hold of it. The first few tries resulted in it slipping through his fingers. On the fourth try, his hands gripped it and pulled. The darkness enveloped him as if it was searching for something. Thoughts of his plan rose to mind; plan to betray Pitch, to return to guardians, to stay with Bunny. Jack was sure that once the darkness saw it, it would reject him in favor of Pitch, but to his surprise, it stayed. The guardian felt it wrap around him, and he let it. Once it was finished, Jack stepped back, but he could still feel the connection deep in his bones.

"Well, my prince? Did it work?"

Jack nodded, "Yeah, I think so."

"Wonderful. Now that you've made the connection, you need to harness it. One of the ways you'll use it most is for travel." Pitch stepped into the shadow next to Jack, then reappeared out of the one across the room. "Like the roots of trees, shadows are connected everywhere, in every way. In order to move between them, you'll need to learn how to find the links and connections and move through them." Jack nodded in understanding.

The young spirit stepped back into the shadows before him. Once more, the darkness enveloped him, but this time, it held a feeling of serenity unlike before. Instead of darkening happy moments, it made him feel calm and at peace. He moved throughout the sea of black, the darkness reminding him that he would never be able to see properly. A signal of light in front of Jack called out to the boy. He walked towards it and found himself across the room. No time had passed in the light, but he had least been in the shadow for a few minutes.

Pitch seemed to read his mind. "Light is not the only thing afraid of the dark. Time also, wished to remain out of it's grasp."

"So that's why no time passed while I was in there."

"Yes. There are other ways to use shadows, but those you must learn for yourself. There are things that I can not just teach you. With that being said, I think that was the last of what I had to teach you. The only left if to train and hone your skills on your own, although I will be there to guide you in the right direction."

Jack nodded. they went to practice more, well, Jack did anyway. They ate dinner afterwards. Pitch insisted that Jack travel through the shadows and give children nightmares on his own, for extra practice. Reluctantly, he did as he was told. Jack would have to get use to it anyway. Once they took care of Pitch, the duty would fall to him permanently. The winter spirit went from house to house, giving the kids bad dreams. To his relief, most of them were simply about bad grades or lost pets.

He returned to the catacombs exhausted from using so much energy. Jack flopped onto his bed to rest. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow. The next few days were the same as always. Jack was lying in his bed when Midnight appeared. She had a note in her mouth. Jack happily took the note and skimmed over it. It was from Bunny.

Frostbite,

That's great news! We're ready for your return whenever you are. When you're ready, come to the warren and we'll talk with the others then.

E. Aster Bunnymund

Jack smiled. Technically, Pitch had said that he was finished teaching him. The training he could do on his own. Jack jumped from the beg and hugged the nightmare.

"Thank you, for everything. I'll see you soon." With one last look to Pitch's lair, the guardian jumped into a shadow and left, knowing he wouldn't be coming back.

Happy Easter everyone! Looking at how things are headed, there shouldn't be more than one or two more chapters left in this story. Sad to think about, I know. Anyways, thanks to all of you for your support and please review!